Lily-O

With his assured fiddle, guitar, banjo and voice, this native of Brattleboro, Vermont has a firm enough grasp of American traditional music to make a significant contribution to that ill-defined category of Americana. Amidon's matter-of-fact vocal style at times suggests that of another great American reinventor, Diana Jones, although his understated vocal and instrumental manner might mean he's unfairly overlooked by some. But listen closely, and you’ll hear an almost unfailingly engaging storyteller. Amidon's poetic manipulation of conventional speech patterns helps give his songs an authentic folkloric flavour, and the yearning ‘Won’t Turn Back’ and the nagging question-and-answer format of the epic title-track typify his easy appropriation of tradition in his own rather beautifully crafted art.

He's joined by Shahzad Ismaily and Bill Frisell, whose unobtrusive adventures on electric guitar confirm Amidon's passion for beautiful sounds and variety, which also comes out in his remarkably varied songwriting.